“There is no truth to the rumor that the Wallace Creek Fitness Center, in part or in whole, is sinking into a swamp,” said Navy Capt. Jason Faunce, facilities director of Marine Corps Installations East. “The fitness center is structurally and foundationally sound.”

What is not in dispute is that the center’s opening date has been delayed. Ground was broken on the site Dec. 8, 2010, and a news report at that time cited an opening date in 2012, as did an article the next month, which narrowed the time frame to the spring of 2012. MCCS officials toured the still-unopened center in June 2012, and a combat correspondent report on that tour said the center would be in service in September of that year without mention of any delay. The still unopened site was toured in March of this year by then MCI-East Commanding General Thomas Gorry, and a news report about that visit indicated the opening would be this past summer.

Faunce said the center was originally supposed to open in January of this year at a price tag of $21.7 million. Design concerns identified with the heating, ventilation and air conditioning system needed to be addressed by the contractors at no cost to the government, Faunce said. Additional permitting, expansion of wet ponds, fencing, sod and audio-visual components added $1 million to the final cost, which is $22.7 million.

Faunce said the time needed for procurement and installation of the necessary HVAC parts delayed the opening. An Aug. 19 inspection by engineers who conducted the final systems test and balance certification found no additional changes were required.

“While many patrons might have preferred to open the fitness center earlier, it is more important that the building systems operate within design parameters for the sake of maintenance reliability, energy conservation and most importantly, the health and welfare of facility users,” Faunce said.

The 103,000-square-foot fitness center, which is scheduled to open on Oct. 11, includes WiFi throughout, a juice bar, six personal training rooms, a rock wall, two NCAA basketball courts, free weights, an eighth-mile indoor track, two racquet ball courts, a spinning room and more. The entire facility is handicap-accessible.

“We could have opened the facility despite these things being identified and fixed the issues section by section,” said Navy Cmdr. Scott Cloyd, the officer-in-charge of construction for Marine Corps Installations East. “...We sat down with MCI-East and Marine Corps Community Services and talked about what the best thing to do for the Marines and their families. It really made sense to make sure that we got it right so when we open the doors we are 100-percent operationally ready.”

The building is FEMA rated for 904 people in case it needs to serve as an emergency shelter and is expected to soon be LEED certified. Part of the LEED certification comes from the energy-efficient fixtures that have been installed, such as automatic low-flow sinks, toilets and urinals, photovoltaic panels, automatic lights and an energy-efficient HVAC system.

Page 2 of 2 - “I think the whole facility represents a lot of the themes, goals and missions that the Marine Corps has aspired to achieve,” said Cloyd. “They’re realizing energy savings; they’re creating a place to allow Marines and their families to have a better quality of life. That’s what it really is all about: taking care of Marines. ...This is a great one-stop-shop for people to come and be physically fit.

:It took as long as it did because we were looking out for their best interests.”